2/14/08 - Happy Valentines Day

Tyler is back to normal, yeah! We are very happy to have our little boy back. So it's been a busy week which is why I haven't had an opportunity to give updates. Yesterday, I had an appt with the school district to review the report and update they wrote for Tyler's services. That appt. went very well. They really drove home the fact that we are very luck to have caught on to things at such an early age and to have an autism diagnosis is even better. They don't usually see kids until preschool age. They also shared that the team (the team consists of: Social Worker, Psychologist, Physical Therapist, Occupational Therapist, Speech Pathologist, and Autism expert) was very impressed at how much we are doing very for Tyler. They said, typically the only services parents receive are through the school district and many times the school distriect is the one pointing out what is wrong and what needs to happen. This conversation made me a little teary for sure.

A decision was made to add Occupational Therapy on in addition to the speech therapy. Once this first portion of the study ends in July, we will also be bumping up speech therapy to twice a week instead of once a week. Carrie, the interventionist, will soon be doing a consult at one of the speech therapy sessions to ensure we are all working on the same page.

In addition to this, Tyler had his monthly assessment for the study yesterday and the evaluator was definetly seeing a difference in him. What's more impressive, is that people other than professionals are noticing changes in our little guy. A mother at social group today noticed Tyler saying "ma-ma"... she said, i don't know that I've ever heard him say Ma ma so distinctly of which I responded (with a huge smile) he just started last week:) Daycare is noticing how much he wants to play with the other kids now and joins in activities. All the kids run around the island in the kitchen and Tyler joins in the fun. The skills Tyler is learning at home with me, is crossing over into other areas of his life. He took one of hte mom's hands in social group today to get her to play ring around the rosie with us. On Saturday, Grandma noticed Ben and Tyler playing together! Ben actually initiated the play (running around the table using a pull toy so Tyler would chase him).

Ok so back to the study. I spoke this morning to Carrie about her view on Tyler's progress. She agrees that he is doing very well and moving through the objectives very quickly. In fact, Florida State Univiersity (partner with U of M fo rhet study) overseen by Amy Wethersby (huge in the autism world) view the tapes of Tyler and were really impressed at how quickly he picks up on things. They want us to really push him because he has so much potential. More great news! I asked from teh standpoint of Tyler and I, if we seem to be doing enough, doing things right, etc. and she agreed. She's also very happy with the progress. We are going to be adding some new routines and new game play to keep things moving. Hopefully soon Tyler will be helping mom with cleaning up the table and vaccuming.

General Feedback from Friday's Session: Although Tyler had a more difficult week than usual, the caregiver did an excellent job of keeping hte bar raised while putting in supports necessary to make activities successful. It is not at all unusual for children with ASD to experience these peaks and valleys in their progress. However, even during difficult weeks, Tyler can still remain successful with the right amount of support just as he did this week. Keep up the great work!